A Strange Occurence
by charliapollo
Summary: I was looking forward to my holiday in New York. But my holiday plans were runined when a hydra attacked me in the hotel lobby. Now I'm stuck on a quest with an annoying son of Ares and a too-smart-for-her-own-good daughter of Athena.
1. Chapter 1

I leaned back in my seat and checked my watch for the 100th time that lesson. It was the last lesson of the day and just five more minutes remained so I couldn't be bothered to do any more work. It was the last week of school before the summer holiday and most the teachers had at least attempted to make their usually dull lessons vaguely entertaining. Mrs Harrietsham was the exception and would continue to work us hard right up until the last second. Luckily for my classmates it was their last lesson with her, ever. Unluckily for me I was being moved down a set and was stuck with that cursed Maths teacher for another year. But I put that fact out of my mind. In one week I would be on holiday and not only that my stepdad was taking my mum and I to America for two weeks.

When the lesson had finally finished I hurried out the door and walked briskly to my locker. I knelt down and tried to jam my key into my lock, but everyone was desperate to get home so I ended up getting crushed up against the lockers. Only when most of the kids had left was I able to shove my maths book back in my locker and stretch my legs. I stood up, turned around and walked right into the boy who had his locker above mine. He was called Grover which I thought was a pretty weird name, and he was American, from New York to be precise. He had curly hair, a bad case of acne and a bit of a limp.

"Sorry…" I murmured.

"It's alright." He replied.

"Why are so late coming out?" I wondered allowed.

He shrugged. "Talking to a teacher. You're name's Lily, right?"

"Yeah. You walking into town?" I asked and he nodded. I didn't know him that well but I had no one else to walk with so I figured what the hell.

"You haven't seen Dan have you?" Grover asked. Dan was his best friend.

"Nope, sorry."

The walk into town passed quickly but then again it usually does when I'm talking to someone. It didn't seem long before Grover said he had to go.

"Hey!" I shouted. "I never asked, what are you doing over the summer?"

"Me and Dan are going to New York,"

I laughed nervously "That's so weird, I'm going there too!"

"Maybe we'll bump into each other."

"Yeah, maybe. Bye then!"

"Bye, Lily."

The week passed quickly enough and it wasn't long before we were clearing out our lockers for good… Well six weeks anyway. I tried not to show it too much but I was seriously excited about going to New York. The furthest I had ever got from England was France so it was going to be the first time I had ever travelled on a plane. The flight we were due to be on left at 7:00 am so we had to get up at half two in the morning. Luckily the cases were already packed and waiting by the door so all I had to do was pull myself out of bed and get dressed.

The taxi journey to the airport took a surprisingly short time but then again not many people are up and about at three in the morning so it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. The airport itself was immense, though I think I would have still been impressed if it had been half the size. Never having even entered an airport before, I founded myself gazing at the simplest little thing and feeling rather small. By the time we had got to the departure lounge I had worked myself into a bit of a state. I could see a variety of planes on the runway through a giant window and I couldn't understand how anything made of metal could actually fly.

The journey to the JFK International airport took seven hours and 45 minutes and despite having got up so early I couldn't sleep at all. Everything from the food to the safety instructions in the back of the seat fascinated me and my stepdad Graham provided me with endless anecdotes about his many plane journeys. My mum meanwhile wasn't quite so confident; she griped the armrests, her nails digging in painfully. It didn't help my initial first-flight jitters. Especially when she started muttering "Please don't let the plane crash!" I didn't realise it at the time but it was quite a bumpy ride, there seemed to be an awful lot of turbulence and the landing couldn't have been bumpier but as a first time flyer I thought it was normal. My mum looked so relieved when we could finally get off the plane.

"Well." She said. "Thank _God _that's over!"

I laughed. "I didn't know you were scared of flying."

Graham smiled, "Honestly Sarah, there's nothing scary about flying!"

"I wasn't scared!" My mum said defensively and rather ironically.

That just made Graham and I laugh even more.

We left the airport and hailed a taxi to our hotel. As I sat in the back of the taxi I discovered three things that really got me about New York. The first thing was the accents. I know, I know it sounds stupid but I'd never visited the USA before and the only place I'd ever seen America was on the TV screen. The other thing that got me about New York: The sheer size of it. I was dwarfed by comparison as I followed my mum and stepdad to the hotel, buildings loomed above me and cast gigantic shadows. The third thing was the cars. Yellow taxis, cars driving on the right side of the road, over head traffic lights… Actually everything about New York was alien to me but I loved it all the same.

When we arrived at our hotel my mum and Graham went to check in while I dragged the suitcases over to the lounge area and got my book out of my in flight bag. It was a book on Greek mythology, which I'd become rather interested in towards the end of term. I was reading a about the numerous monsters that featured in Ancient Greek Myths when I heard a chilling scream. My head shot up and my book tumbled to the floor. My mum was rigid with shock, staring in horror at the entrance because next to the glass door of the hotel was a huge green monster. Great green ropes swung in every direction as my eyes struggled to make sense of my surroundings. I screamed when I realised what it was because what I had thought were ropes were in fact necks attached to those necks were ugly snake-like heads. But the worst thing was I recognised it, slowly I tore my gaze away from the monster and looked downwards. My book rested on the floor open at a seemingly random page. On the page was a picture, a picture of a large monster with many necks, exactly like the one which was about to eat me. I let out a small gasp as I read the name underneath. _Hydra_. The monster which Hercules slayed in Greek mythology and it was making its way towards me, spraying poison wherever it looked.


	2. Chapter 2

Poison splattered a millimetre from my face as I stumbled backwards. I felt numb with fear and shock, my brain slow on the uptake. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mum and Graham cowering next to the desk. Everyone else has disappeared. My mum caught my eye.

"Go!" She yelled but the Hydra turned to her instead and she and Graham dived behind the counter. Poison covered the desk and it began to disintegrate.

"Mum!" I screamed and the Hydra turned around to face me again. I was all ready to charge at the monster when a boy hadn't pushed me out the way.

"Idiot!" He sneered as he pulled out a sword. Unfortunately my head hit the chair leg and my whole head hurting like hell. I watched, blurry eyed as he used the sword to mesmerise the monster while he called out: "Alicia! The fire!"

A girl with short blonde hair ran, screaming, towards the monster and lobbed a lighted match just as the boy cut of one of the monsters heads. The match sailed through the air and lit up the stump where a head had once been. The hydra shuddered, dazed and then vaporised on the spot, leaving just a pile of sandy dust which blew a way in the wind that had escaped through the open doorway.

I heaved myself up, my vision cleared and my head not in so much pain. I guessed that the boy must have been a year or two younger than me and his brown hair was sticking in all directions. Slowly he turned to face me; he had a broad face and small dark eyes, his T-shirt was ripped and falling apart from claw marks and his sword hung at his side. He sneered at me.

"You're such an idiot! Were you trying to get yourself killed!?"

I blinked nervously. The girl pushed him aside. "Snap out of Jake!" She muttered. "You don't have to have a go at every person we come across." Then she smiled at me. "Hey, you okay?"

I nodded but stayed silent, I was still in shock. The girl, whose name must have been Alicia, wore a bandana over her short wavy hair and she was pale with serious grey eyes. Like Jake she her once nice clothes were ripped. She looked about my age, but her eyes suggested that she'd seen a lot more than any thirteen year old has the right to see. I turned my head to see my mum emerging from the partly destroyed desk.

"I _knew_ we shouldn't have come to America!" She muttered then she looked up at me. "Lily! She gasped "You have to get to camp! It's not safe anywhere else!"

"W-What?"

My mum turned to Alicia "Are you on the way to Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah, for the summer."

"Will you-?"

Alicia nodded like she understood "We'll keep her safe Mrs –"

"Harper. " My mum said

"Mum!" I protested.

"Go. " She said. "And remember…. I… I love you."

"I love you too but-" My sentence was silenced by a roar echoing out in the street.

"Come one!" Alicia grabbed my hand. I grasped at my in flight bag as she pulled me out the door. Down the street was a huge figure and I had a horrible feeling it was another Greek monster.

Jake shocked me by cursing in ancient Greek. "We haven't even left Manhattan yet!"

The three of us ran down the street. Unfortunately Jake had other ideas. He kept trying to run in the direction of the monster muttering "Let me at 'im!" I recovered from my initial shock and sped up. After a mile or so we seemed top have lost whatever had been chasing us and Alicia ushered us into a pancake place.

While Jake sat down Alicia went to order.

"I'll pay." I volunteered. "I reckon I owe you one."

She smiled "Thanks."

We sat down at the at the table and then my questions began.

"What's going on?" I demanded. Jake and Alicia looked at each other.

Jake smirked. "You really don't know do you?" I glared at him while Alicia explained.

"You know Greek Mythology?" She asked.

"Like the hydra that tried to kill me." I said.

"Well, yes but …er… try to avoid using the names." She said nervously but then she continued. "Well-"

"It's real isn't it?" I said abruptly. I probably should have been shocked but after seeing a hydra first hand I figured that that was the only sensible explanation.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Well done Einstein."

If anyone else had said that it would have been a joke but Jake had a cocky manner about him and I couldn't help but be angry. He had a serious attitude problem and I was fed up with him treating me like I was two years old. "Shut your mouth!" I growled. I jumped out my seat and Alicia pushed me back.

"He's really not as bad once you get to know him." She said softly.

"Yeah," I muttered angrily. "And butter wouldn't melt." It was a strange expression that I'd never give much thought to but for some reason Alicia and Jake had cracked up.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded.

Jake ignored me. "Say butter again will you?"

I blinked. "What in god's name-?"

Alicia giggled, "Don't worry… It's just you say it so posh!"

I rolled my eyes and finished my pancake. I was acutely aware that they might have been right. My English accent did sound posh compared to American accents that surrounded me. When we had finished we went out into the street and Alicia started going through the backpack thrown over one shoulder. "Ah ha!" She exclaimed when she pulled out an odd looking coin and tossed it on the ground.

"Um… what are you doing?" I asked tentatively.

"Getting a taxi." She said "Now be quiet." She started rambling in ancient Greek which I was surprised to find I understood. I watched in horror as the tar started bubbling and a smoky taxi emerged from the ground. I stared at it in surprise.

"Come on. " Jake said and I realised I was the only one left on the pavement. Inside I could see three old women sitting in a place meant for one.

"Camp half blood, please."


End file.
